Dialed In listed as Derby favorite
LOUISVILLE, Ky. | No one can say with any real certainty whether or not Uncle Mo will be in the starting gate on Saturday when the Kentucky Derby is run for the 137th time at Churchill Downs. He’s still battling a gastrointestinal infection that could result in a scratch right up until post time.
But even if he does run, there is a good chance he won’t be the favorite. For now, that honor goes to Dialed In, the horse Churchill Downs handicapper Mike Battaglia picked as the 4-1 morning line favorite on Wednesday after the Nick Zito-trained colt drew the favorable eighth stall in the Derby post position draw.
The No. 8 position has been a good place to start the race in recent years. Barbaro (2006) and Mine That Bird (2008) both won the Derby from that position.
Uncle Mo, who was undefeated as 2-year-old and looked like the most talented horse in his age group before a third place finish at the Wood Memorial, was named the early second choice at 9-2 after he drew the No. 18 post position. Nehro was Battaglia’s third choice at 6-1 in what is being called one of the toughest Derbys to handicap in years.
Dialed In, who won the Florida Derby last month by a nose, didn’t get nearly the attention Uncle Mo did during the prep season, but Dialed In might be peaking at just the right time for Zito and owner Robert LaPenta. Zito has won the Derby twice.
“It could have gone either way with Dialed in or Uncle Mo,” Zito said. “He could have been 4-1 and we could have been 9-2. I’m very flattered by it, I guess. But anything Dialed In does, he deserves it.”
The biggest question, however, remains the status of Uncle Mo, the horse trained by last year’s Kentucky Derby winner Todd Pletcher. Uncle Mo made only a brief appearance at the track on Wednesday, and his owner Mike Repole repeated his belief that the horse has about a “50/50 chance” of running Saturday.
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